Consuming Dark Chocolate May Reduce the Risk of Developing Diabetes: Study

The study discovered that the increased presence of epcatechin monomers helped beta cells to remain stronger as well as enhanced their ability to secrete insulin. "What happens is epicatechin monomers is protecting the cells, increasing their ability to deal with oxidative stress," said lead author Jeffery Tessem, assistant professor at Brigham Young University (BYU), US.

"The epicatechin monomers are making the mitochondria in the beta cells stronger, which produces more ATP (a cell's energy source), which then results in more insulin being released," Tessem added. For the study, the team fed the cocoa compound to animals on a high-fat diet. The results suggested that by adding it to a high fat diet, the compound reduced the level of obesity in the animals and increased their ability to deal with increased blood glucose levels.

"These results will help us get closer to using these compounds more effectively in foods or supplements to maintain normal blood glucose control and potentially even delay or prevent the onset of Type-2 diabetes," said study co-author Andrew Neilson, assistant professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

With Inputs from IANS